Is Your Team Struggling to Collaborate?
Here’s another challenge in working teams…………….Collaboration!
One my teams was struggling with the concept of Collaboration. They were asking the right questions—What does it mean to collaborate? What are the actions and behaviors associated?
They asked for my help, so here’s what I explained to them……….
Collaboration is a process where two or more people attempt to work with another person (s) to find some solution which fully satisfies the concerns of both (all) parties. It requires the use of actions and behaviors that may need to be learned by your teammates.
It’s important to follow some guidelines for collaboration in teams. Here are some suggestions:
- use active listening when there are disagreements or differences of opinion, strong feelings, a need to summarize, lack of clarity or someone not feeling heard
- be both a participant and an observer of our own and others’ behavior
- use clear and direct communication – “I” messages
- remember that sharing and feedback build informed trust
- make your position known and be willing to alter/change it
Hope the above information gives you some new insights into the guidelines for Collaboration within Teams. Try using these tools and techniques with your team and watch the impact. I would love to hear how it works for you!
